Over 40 Alexander von Humboldt fellows from 14 different countries will meet on August 29 in Bonn to discuss their projects. Two of them, Andrew Iloh and Meagan Jooste, will represent Africa in this distinguished group.

Forty-two prospective leaders who have received an International Climate Protection Fellowship or a German Chancellor Fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation will begin working on their projects in Germany in the next few months. An introductory meeting takes place on August 29 in Bonn, where they will present their projects and have the opportunity to discuss them and build up networks. The opening lecture will be held by climate researcher and former Director of the Max Planck Institute for Meteorology in Hamburg, Hartmut Graßl.

Enlarge image Fellows at the Humboldt Foundation (© Humboldt Foundation/ Eric Lichtenscheidt) The 14 recipients of the International Climate Protection Fellowship come from Nigeria, South Africa, Bolivia, Ecuador, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Laos, Nepal, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan and China. Their research covers topics such as the transition from fossil fuels to solar energy in Uzbekistan, the effects of climate and socio-economic factors on dengue fever epidemics in Sri Lanka, or urban planning that reconciles the needs of humans and nature.

The 28 German Chancellor Fellows come from China, Russia and the USA, and will be carrying out projects on topics such as sustainable transport planning in Germany and the USA, media democracy in the age of the Internet, or protection periods in copyright law in Germany and China.

African Fellows
Andrew Iloh, Ph.D. candidate from the University of Lagos' Department of Botany, and Meagan Jooste, Junior Economist, Trade and Industrial Policy Strategies, are beginning their tour as Climate Protection Fellows. Mr. Iloh will be hosted at the Senckenburg Society for Natural History, Biodiversity and Climate Research in Frankfurt am Main and Ms. Jooste will be in Berlin at the Climate Policy Initiative, German Institute for Economics Research. The following are descriptions of their projects and objectives.

Andrew Iloh: Assessing Genetic Diversity and Divergence within and among Populations of the Threatened Plant Chasmanthera dependens (Menispermaceae) in West Africa.

Climate change on global and regional scales is predicted to alter species distributions, life histories, community composition, and ecosystem function. In particular, plant population losses caused by climate change threaten both species diversity and the delivery of critical ecosystem services.

Enlarge image Alexander von Humboldt Climate Protection Fellow Andrew Chibuzor Iloh from Nigeria (© A. Iloh) Andrew Iloh plans to assess the effects of climate change on biodiversity loss using the genus Chasmanthera (Menispermaceae) as a model system. The Menispermaceae are a cosmopolitan family of climbing plants and are morphologically diverse but poorly known. In West Africa, there is only one species of Chasmanthera (C. dependens) which has high ethno-medical and economic values. However, the plant is wild, poorly known and there is a risk of genetic erosion due to over-exploitation.

Andrew Iloh also hopes to understand the genetic variation of populations in West Africa which will be essential for the establishment of effective and efficient conservation practices, especially in our changing environment.

Meagan Jooste: Securing Sustainable Growth - Comparing Experiences of Environmental Fiscal Reform in South Africa and Germany. South Africa and Germany have implemented Environmental Fiscal Reform (EFR) policy measures to change consumer behaviours away from the purchase of emissions-intensive vehicles and enact the “polluter pays” principle. Both countries have implemented an emissions intensity labelling system for new passenger vehicles. In 2009, Germany introduced annual ownership taxes based on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and engine displacement on passenger vehicles, and in 2010, South Africa's National Treasury enforced an ad valorem CO2 tax on passenger vehicles.

Meagan Jooste plans to employ a stakeholder engagement process in her study and conduct vehicle sales trend analysis in both countries to ascertain the environmental effectiveness, efficiency and equity of these two instruments (an information and market-based intervention). The dual objectives of her study are thus to outline key lessons for South Africa from Germany's experience and enhance stakeholder engagement between the countries to support the further development of EFR in South Africa.

For more information about the International Climate Fellows